July Newsletter & Garden Sustainable Stewardship Practices for the Southeast
JULY
I had the time and more importantly, the frame of mind to take on a project to put the garden in a good place. Forever I’ve been behind. Over the past three years, I reduced and consolidated the beds. I’m finally right where I need to be. With the recent rework, it was time to freshen the gravel and paths.
It took a while, but it was worth the investment. Since I’m spending more time at the beach, at THE COTtAGE, I needed to free up more time. THE COTtAGE is a quiet place to work remotely and write.
So yes I finally have the garden to the point all I need to do has maintain and harvest!
July is a time for abundance in the garden!
July is not the best planting month for southeast gardens, but it’s a good time to plan and prepare. The weeds will not let you rest, but they might slow down to a manageable pace during the dog days of summer. Rainfall will best determine how much time you’ll spend weeding. Little rain, fewer weeds. More rain, more weeds.
What are the dog days? The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius, which Greek and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. So watch yourself!!!
As a side note, January and July are my two worse months. I find January just too dark. In July, it is too hot. On this first day of July, I’m counting the days until August. Funny thing, I don’t mind working in the heat, so I don’t take July off!
In the Bee Better Teaching Garden, the first week in July is as busy as a week in spring or fall. July is when I do the annual cutback, clearing paths for better passage, deadheading, and deadleafing of every plant in the garden. This year, I’m limbing up…A LOT!
The big job is to cut back the hardy mums. A haircut by the Fourth of July keeps the mums stouter so when they bloom, they aren’t so floppy. In June, for whatever reason, this year, they don’t need to cut back. The mums are already shorter than what I would have leveled them to. Hopefully, they will still give me wonderful blooms in the late fall.
The Back 40 (ft) North to South
The Back 40 (ft) South to North
Gazebo Corner
The Epimedium Patch
The Wildflower Patch Extension
The Wildflower Patch
Note refreshed rock.
The Southside East to West
Note the refreshed pea gravel path.
The Southside West to East.
The Ostrich Fern Garden
The Front Fountain Garden
The Blackberry Patch with Chimney Swift Tower
The Food Forest Extension
The Parterre
Note refreshed gravel.
Rock Garden
The Raspberry Patch/River Bed
The Pollinator Garden
The North Side, West to East.
The Girl’’s Garden
The Wildlife Pond
Mixed Border, North to South
Mixed Border, South to North
To read more of my writings, click HERE!
SCROLL TO THE END TO SEE WHAT’S IN BLOOM!
Have a Gardening Need? HIRE HELEN!
SUSTAINABLE GARDENING STEWARDSHIP:
There are many definitions of sustainable gardening, and through my decades as a sustainable gardener, I’ve summed it up to mean…wait for it…a garden that sustains itself and the life within! By that I mean, doing less, so much less, that it can take away the stress and much of the labor, bringing back the joy of gardening and bettering the environment.
Sustainable gardening is a concept of using gardening practices that cause no harm to the Earth and its inhabitants while working in a way to enhance it. But there is more. To me, sustainable gardening is to have within all the aspects to sustain life. For example, to have a butterfly garden, it’s not enough to just have pretty nectar-rich flowers. For a butterfly garden to be fully sustainable, plants are required to sustain all aspects of the butterfly’s life cycle. That means providing host plants, specific plants that area butterflies need to lay their eggs. So yes, you will have holes in your leaves; that’s the goal!
Simply put, sustainable gardening is designing your garden to sustain itself and allows us to secure our future to make the Earth better than we found it. Think of it as organic gardening taken a step further.
Design becomes an important aspect for a garden to sustain itself, as well as providing the plants necessary to fully sustain wildlife in all respects of their lifecycle. You could just plant plants that are regionally native and provide exactly what nature does. No supplemental water, no cutbacks, no added mulch, and no pesticides or herbicide. Yet, many want more from their gardens, so we add plant diversity. What is key is the placement of these plants.
SOIL
FERTILIZING SUSTAINABLY
WATERING SUSTAINABLY
WATERWISE
WILDLIFE
CREATING A WILDLIFE HABITAT AT HOME
FOOD:
Our bird friends don’t need supplemental feed if you have a diverse garden. but we begin to heat up, keep up the feeder so you can watch your feathered friends from the inside of the home..
One of the best all-around seeds for birds is the black-oil sunflower. This seed has a high meat-to-shell ratio, it is high in fat, and it is sized perfectly for many seed eaters, including black-capped chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, finches, juncos, jays, woodpeckers, and sparrows.
COVER:
Wildlife welcomes cover, year-round.
WATER:
As the berries in our area ripen, the birds are having a feast. Keep your birdbaths filled with freshwater, changing out at least every four days to break the mosquito larvae cycle.
PLACES TO RAISE THEIR YOUNG:
Plant diversity is key!
BIRDCARE:
Do you deadhead? Click HERE to learn more.
Check out this really nice bird identification and preferred foods for each bird from The Cornell Lab! Click HERE!
Are you familiar with how we can bring the birds back? Click HERE for starters.
As long as you are enjoying seeing the birds from your window, continue to Feed The Birds!
I also fill wire suet cages with native grasses.
HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE:
The males left last month. Females will leave in a month or two afterward. To learn how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, click HERE.
INVASIVE PLANTS:
By definition, did you know there is a different meaning between invasive plants vs. aggressive plants? A simple definition, invasive plants are introduced species, not native to our area, and show a tendency to spread out of control. Aggressive plants are those native to our area, and some can easily take over. We in. The Bee Better Teaching Garden keeps an eye on both!
Clover
We don’t all think of clover as a weed. I certainly don’t! Do you think white clover is a weed? Think again. if you are one of the ones who want it gone in your turf, click HERE.
You may know pokeweed as American pokeweed, poke sallet, or dragonberries. All parts of the plant are poisonous, except when the foliage is about the height of a spread hand. Then it can be boiled with two water changes and eaten like cooked spinach.
The berries are highly desired by birds in the fall, and this helps the spread of pokeweed as they drop the seeds—everywhere! After consuming the berry, the seeds are spread by birds and frequently are found around the driplines of trees, shrubs, and along fencerows, and a massive amount around the plant.
If left too big, they can be hard to remove since they have a deep taproot. Try to note and remove seedlings early for an easier pull.
Pokeweed shoots can be composted in cold piles if berries are not present. Roots should not be added to cold piles, either. We cold compost in the Bee Better Naturally Teaching Garden. Cold composting is essentially letting a pile build and decompose.. It requires less effort from the gardener, yet the decomposition takes substantially longer—a year or more. We have a designated area behind some shrubs where we pile our biomass to slowly break down.
I thought you might be interested in learning how the dreaded Bradford pear had its beginning.
Lesser Celandine or Fig Buttercup, Ficaria verna
Creeping Charlie, Glechoma hederacea
Greenbriar, Smilax rotundifolia
Hairy Bittercress, Cardamine hirsura
Marsh Pennywort, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides
GOOD BUGS:
An Introduction of Green Lacewings
Mysteries of the Dragonfly and Damselfly
BUTTERFLY UPDATE:
I’ve seen a few, but I expected more given our heat had us in “June” during May and “July” during June. One success has been the pipevine butterfly, Battus philenor. . in the Bee Better Teaching garden in full force!
Recently, I registered the Bee Better Teaching Garden with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Have you looked into this?
We offer Caterpillar Support to those who are in need of butterfly caterpillars rescued. If you have butterfly caterpillars and are running out of host plants, or if you don’t want your plant defoliated, just email me at helenyoest at gmail.com. We can arrange for you to drop them off, and I will raise and release them.
Host Butterfly Plants
Bronze fennel is the host butterfly plant for the Eastern black swallowtail butterfly. The caterpillars feed on the fennel until time for the metamorphosis.
In our area, we don’t tend to see Eastern black swallowtails until a little later in the summer. But they will come. It’s not too late to plant their host plants. While they like fennel best, the caterpillars will also feed on curly parsley, dill, and carrot tops; anything in the carrot family. To purchase the full list of host plants for butterflies within our Raleigh and Ecosystem 231, click HERE.
MONARCH UPDATE:
It is possible to see monarchs in the Raleigh area in July, but we are more likely to see a bunch of them in the fall as they migrate south again. Have you planted your milkweed?
BAD BUGS:
Mosquitoes are out, these are buggers one never gets used to. Controlling mosquitoes with traps has been most helpful. To learn more, click HERE!
Tent Caterpillars
Leaf Miner Flies
Mosquito Control—Is there Such a Thing?
Naturally Controlling Japanese Beetles
Bagworms
Do yourself a favor and never look into the “eye” of a bagworm. Bagworms have got to be the most disgusting-looking pests ever — to me anyway.
Bagworms can be treated by removing them by hand and dropping them into a bucket of soapy water. If the bagworm infestation isn’t within easy reach, they can be sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short.
Bt is a microbial insecticide that’s commonly used to control various caterpillars such as the red-headed azalea caterpillar along with many other caterpillars, as well as those nasty bagworms. But remember, it will kill our moth and butterfly larvae, as well!
Black Widowed Spider, Latrodectus mactanse
Cicada Killer, Sphecius specious
Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica
Be sure to check them FIRST to see if they have any tanchid fly eggs on their shoulders. If they do, let them go and the flies will hatch out and consume them from the inside — and produce more flies to dispatch more Japanese beetles. If you see those opaque white dots — one or two or three or more — let them go.”
Brown Recluse Spider Loxosceles reclusa
CHECK OUT Bee Better Naturally’s HOW-TOS!
CHECK OUT our SHOP/WORKSHOPS!
SPECIFICALLY…
CAMELLIAS
LAWNS
ROSES
TREES: Check out the latest advice from Leaf & Limb!
Why Dead Wood is Good Wood!
The Art of Espalier
SHRUBS:
The best time to prune flowering shrubs is right after they bloom.
ANNUALS:
I don’t tend to plant annuals, but I’m big on direct sowing. Zinnia’s are my go-to seeds. There are tall ones, shorter ones, and even ground cover types. Some look like show mums others like pinwheels, and those that like daisies you will want to pluck to see of you if your love, loves you.
PERENNIALS:
BULBS:
Camellias
Caladiums
VINES:
Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia. I find most people absolutely hate Virginia Creeper for the aggressiveness. I happen to find it extremely beneficial for birds in the fall. Did you know Virginia Creeper is a native?
Unfortunately, too many gardeners confuse it with poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, which is also a native and feeds birds. I get it. I’m highly allergic to poison ivy and have eradicated it from my property. I remember when I did so, I wasn’t allergic before but became so during its removal. The good/bad news was I did it all in one day, so I was affected even before the symptoms showed up! Otherwise, I may have stopped short of getting rid of it all, and being fearful my entire life in the garden! I had a rash from head to toe!!! It was then, in 1997, that I started wearing long sleeves and pants whenever gardening.
Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata; Lady Banks rose, Rosa banksiae; Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens.
POND:
EDIBLE FOODS and FOOD FOREST:
Bee Better Teaching Garden grows at least 30 different fruits. Learn about our Food Forest HERE!
HERBS:
What’s looking good now in the Bee Better Teaching Garden:
Parsley, Petroselinum crispum-
Rue, Ruta graveolens
Thyme, Thymus vulgaris
Oregano, Origanum vulgare
Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus, formally Rosmarinus Officinalis.
In the Food Forest, the rosemary has spider mites.
Without looking at this plant with a hand lens, it’s impossible to be sure, but this type of mottled leaves is typical of the damage done by either a sucking insect or spider mites. The leaves ended up stippled and paled with such infestations because the insect or mite pierce the leaf repeatedly as they feed, which kills the cells in the leaf. Initially, the leaves look stippled, but over time the entire leaf can die.
Leafhoppers, lacewings, and whitefly are three insects that suck plant juices and cause similar damage. If you look closely, or with a hand lens, and see webs, it’s likely spider mites are the cause.
Since most people want to eat their herbs, you, of course, don’t want to use systemic or other chemical insecticides. Also, mites aren’t killed by some insecticides. You could use one of the insecticide/miticides made from neem or cinnamon, however. Another good practice in such situations is to spray the plant with a hard stream of water once a week.
PERENNIALS:
Salvias
Foxgloves
Phlox
CHICKENS:
SNAKES: Wondering what snake is in your backyard? Click HERE for an easy id.
Glossary
Until soon,
Helen
#WeCanAllBeeBetter!
Porcelain Vine, Ampelopsis brevipedunculata
Looking for a GREAT plant list for pollinator plants? Got sun? Check this out HERE!
GOOD BUGS:
Fun Facts About Fireflies!
An Introduction of Green Lacewings
Fun Facts About Lady Beetles
Mysteries of the Dragonfly and Damselfly
#LeaveTheLeaves
Carolina Praying Mantis
Cicidada Killer, Sphecius speciosus
BUTTERFLY UPDATE:
I’ve seen a few, but this oh-so-nice spring, they are slow to arrive full force. Recently, I registered the Bee Better Teaching Garden with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Have you looked into this?
We offer Caterpillar Support to those who are in need of butterfly caterpillars rescued. If you have butterfly caterpillars and are running out of host plants, or if you don’t want your plant defoliated, just email me at Helen Yoest at gmail.com. We can arrange for you to drop them off, and I will raise and release them.
Host Butterfly Plants
Bronze fennel is the host butterfly plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterflies. The caterpillars feed on the fennel until time for the metamorphosis..
In our area, we don’t tend to see Eastern Black Swallowtails until a little later in the summer. But they will come. It’s not too late to plant their host plants. While they like fennel best, the caterpillars will also feed on curly parsley, dill, and carrot tops. To purchase the full list of host plants for butterflies within our Raleigh and Ecosystem 231, click HERE.
MONARCH UPDATE:
It is possible to see monarchs in the Raleigh area in the early summer, but we are like to see a bunch of them in the fall as they migrate south again. Have you planted your milkweed?
BAD BUGS:
Mosquitoes are out, these are buggers one never gets use to. Controlling mosquitoes with traps has been most helpful. To learn more, click HERE!
Tent Caterpillars
Leaf Miner Flies
Mosquito Control—Is there Such a Thing?
Brown Recluse Spider
Black Widowed Spider
Japanese Beetles
Leaf-footed bug,, Leptoglossus phyllopus, as seen on a cordon.
Do yourself a favor and never look into the “eye” of a bagworm. Bagworms have got to be the most disgusting-looking pests ever — to me anyway.
Bagworms can be treated by removing them by hand and dropping into a bucket of soapy water. If the bagworm infestation isn’t within easy reach, they can be sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short.
Bt is a microbial insecticide that’s commonly used to control various caterpillars such as the red-headed azalea caterpillar along with many other caterpillars, as well as those nasty bagworms. But remember, it will kill our moth and butterfly larvae, as well!
Cicidada Killer, Sphecius speciosus
SHOP/WORKSHOPS!
SUSTAINABLE GARDENING STEWARDSHIP:
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
Water-wise: With a water-wise design, watering in the absence of rain is a breeze. Helen Yoest designed the Bee Better Teaching Garden with water-wise principles. We have minimal watering to do, and what watering we do have, is contained. For example, in one of the Oasis Zones, we have a collection of boxwoods in containers. But the watering is smart. These containers are near a watering source, so moving around a hose isn’t a big deal.
SOIL
FERTILIZING SUSTAINABLY
WATERING SUSTAINABLY
WATERWISE:
With a water-wise design, watering in the absence of rain is a breeze. My garden at home, the Bee Better Teaching Garden, was designed with water-wise principles. To learn more, click HERE!
WILDLIFE
CREATING A WILDLIFE HABITAT AT HOME
FOOD:
Our bird friends don’t need supplemental feed if you have a diverse garden. but we begin to heat up, keep up the feeder so you can watch your feathered friends from the inside of the home..
One of the best all-around seeds for birds is the black-oil sunflower. This seed has a high meat-to-shell ratio, it is high in fat, and it is sized perfectly for many seed eaters, including black-capped chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, finches, juncos, jays, woodpeckers, and sparrows. Check out this post on wildlife cover!
COVER:
Wildlife welcomes cover, year-round.
WATER:
As the berries in our area ripen, the birds are having a feast. Keep your birdbaths filled with fresh water, changing out at least every four days to break the mosquito larvae cycle.
PLACES TO RAISE THEIR YOUNG:
Plant diversity is key here!
BIRDCARE:
Do you deadhead? Click HERE to learn more.
Check out this really nice bird identification and preferred foods for each bird from The Cornell Lab! Click HERE!
Are you familiar with how we can bring the birds back? Click HERE for starters.
This gives me so much joy. Feed the Birds
As long as you are enjoying seeing the birds from your window, continue to Feed The Birds!
I also fill wire suet cages with native grasses.
HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE:
To learn how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, click HERE!
SPECIFICALLY …
CAMELLIAS
LAWNS
ROSES
TREES: Check out the latest advice from Leaf & Limb!
Be sure to check out one of the latest posts, Why Dead Wood is Good Wood!
The Art of Espalier
SHRUBS:
The best time to prune flowering shrubs is right after they bloom.
Azaleas beginning to bloom
ANNUALS:
I don’t tend to plant annuals, but I’m big on direct sowing. Zinnia’s are my go-to seeds. There are tall ones, shorter ones, and even ground cover types. Some look like show mums others like pinwheels, and those like daisies you will want to pluck to see of you if you love, loves you.
PERENNIALS:
Rohdea japonica is sending up new shoots. Now is a good time to cut back old leaves. Same with cast-iron plant, Aspidistra elatior. Cut back dead leaves to welcome fresh foliage.
BULBS:
Divide irises: Did you have success with your new iris planted this year or in the fall? If not, it could be due to several factors: too much shade, too much fertilizer, too deep a planting, or crowding. July is a good time to correct any of these problems by lifting and relocating or repositioning to a more favorable location.
Plant the iris high with the rhizomes along the surface of the dirt. They can be covered finely and lightly with mulch, but not soil. Make sure you can either see the rhizomes or have the ability to brush away the mulch exposing the bulb. With the exception of the Louisiana variety, irises need six- to eight hours of sunlight to bloom and require good drainage. If you have a damp, partial sun location in your garden, plant a Louisiana iris.
Camellias
CALADIUMS
VINES:
Boston ivy, Parthenocissus tricuspidata
Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia. I find most people absolutely hate Virginia Creeper for the aggressiveness. Did you know this native vine is extremely beneficial for birds in the fall.
Unfortunately, too many gardeners confuse it with poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, which is also a native and feeds birds. I get it. I’m highly allergic to poison ivy and have eradicated it from my property. I remember when I did so, I wasn’t allergic before but became so during its removal. The good/bad news was I did it all in one day, so I was affected even before the symptoms showed up! Otherwise, I may have stopped short of getting rid of it all, and being fearful my entire life in the garden! I had a rash from head to toe!!! It was then, in 1997, that I started wearing long sleeves and pants whenever gardening.
I’ve still gotten poison ivy working in area gardens, but now it is so mild, it doesn’t bother me. Not sure how that works. Will need to look into it one day.
Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata; Lady Banks rose, Rosa banksiae; Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens.
POND:
EDIBLE FOODS and FOOD FOREST:
Bee Better Teaching Garden grows at least 30 different fruits. Learn about our Food Forest HERE!
HERBS:
What’s looking good now in the Bee Better Teaching Garden:
Parsley, Petroselinum crispum-
Rue, Ruta graveolens
Thyme, Thymus vulgaris
Oregano, Origanum vulgare
Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus, formally Rosmarinus Officinalis.
In the Food Forest, the rosemary has spider mites.
Without looking at this plant with a hand lens, it’s impossible to be sure, but this type of mottled leaves is typical of the damage done by either a sucking insect or spider mites. The leaves ended up stippled and paled. With such infestations, the insect or mite pierce the leaf repeatedly as they feed,; this kills the cells in the leaf. Initially, the leaves look stippled, but over time the entire leaf can die.
Leafhoppers, lacewings, and whitefly are three insects that suck plant juices and cause similar damage. If you look closely, or with a hand lens, and see webs, it’s likely spider mites are the cause.
Since most people want to eat their herbs, you, of course, don’t want to use systemic or other chemical insecticides. Also, mites aren’t killed by some insecticides. You could use one of the insecticide/miticides made from neem or cinnamon, however. Another good practice in such situations is to spray the plant with a hard stream of water once a week.
PERENNIALS:
Salvias
Foxgloves
Phlox
CHICKENS:
SNAKES: Wondering what snake is in your backyard? Click HERE for an easy id.
SOME OF WHAT’S BLOOMING IN JULY
I was so behind in July, that I was remiss getting photos.
Until soon,
Helen
#WeCanAllBeeBetter!